Breeding algea eaters

[Tsarmina]

has anyone managed to breed chinese algae eaters?

if so, what were the tank conditions at the time?

[HummingBird]

But more importantly, why would anyone want to?

[evilknieval69]

lol. good point with that hummingbird. i have one myself and i know tsarmina has 2 (i think) that we love. people say that they dont eat algae, they attack other fish etc etc. no, my one doesnt eat algae but he also doesnt eat my other fish. i like him because he has got a very funny attitude, whipping round the tank etc. they are good for tsarmina because she had them in her baby guppy tank and they ate all the left over food, not necisarily (sp?) the algae but the old food which makes the water go off.

i agree with you tsar, why not have a go at breeding them, just another challenge in the thrill of keeping fish.

( all of this is my opinion, anybody else may think otherwise and that is fine. this is my personal view)

Thanks

**EVIL**

:bounce:

[HummingBird]

Mmm I've had good and bad experiences with one. When he was younger I kept him with corydoras and he sucked their sides, left big wounds on them which actually killed a couple. He also killed his original CAE partner. I moved him into the big boys tank with a 30cm pleco and two oscars and they were fine together - I never saw him attacking anyone and I got to like him when he stopped killing his tankmates because as you say, they're quite personable.

[LYNDYLOO]

Hmmm, maybe it's a case of,

"Pick on someone your own size, not BIGGER" :lol: :lol:

Lynda

[Faran]

Only one reported incident that I could find, and it was unintentional -

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/bre ... Eater.html

[Tsarmina]

thanks for that faran, but i have read that one. it seems to be the only captive spawning on record.

there also seems to be no definate way of sexing them either.

Evil, thanks for the input.

yes i have 2. one is 10cm (dale), the other 8cm (chip).

since i have put the sand in the tank i have noticed that chip has become a little more rounded that before. i'm woundering if the murky water (result of dumping the sand in and them burrowing in it) may have triggered something :-? .

i have heard about cae attacking other fish and i am keeping a very close eye on them to make sure it doesn't happen.

dale will chase chip around, but i have never seen him attacking. quite often you will see both of them swimming around together or stuck to the side of the tank next to each other.

[antwan]

my friend has a golden algae eater (think theyre the same, just different colours) and it was fine with all the other fish for a few months. After that my friend went on holiday for the weekend and came home to one dead female krib, a dead marlboro and one blue turq completely covered in sores, mainly on the face. I prefer the SAEs myself, however tsar, if you get them breeding that would be cool, probably the first person in NZ to do so.

[Tsarmina]

however tsar, if you get them breeding that would be cool, probably the first person in NZ to do so

now wouldn't that be an achievement